tour de france 2018 stage 12 alpe d'huez

well here's the stage for today's Intrigue 175.5 kilometers setting out from Borg San Maurice and featuring two other super category climbs before the final one the cordless Madeleine is first and after a picturesque interlude on the last day demand Vernier record Affair is second then there'll be just the 21 hairpins and the weight of Humanity on the Alp for the Riders to negotiate 161 men at the start this morning Mark Renshaw Marcel Kittle and Mark Cavendish came in outside the time limit yesterday and overnight rigoberto Iran gave in to the injuries he sustained On Stage Nine and abandoned now like yesterday the Breakaway when it Formed was large and talented among the initial 30 odds were six of the top 20. Pierre tore the best young rider was there he'll know zacharin Pierre along with his team leader rigoberto Iran no longer in the race Alejandro Valverde and Mikhail nevy from yesterday's break Warren bargiel and Julian Alice Elite two looking for Mountain points but the most intriguing member was Steven kreuzvike sixth overall at the start of the day two minutes 40 behind garine Thomas now Julian ala Philippe was first at the summit of the cordland Madeleine to extend his King of the mountains lead and then it was on to the second climb of the day on the elegantly draped laces of Montvale Pierro long took the points there ala Philippe having fallen back quite a few men Meanwhile we're climbing off Tony galapan of ag2r saw my member day down to four teammates now Rick zarvel who was reprieved by the commissares yesterday after coming five seconds outside the time limit and three more major sprinters Fernando cavaria winner of stages one and four Dylan coronavagan winner of stages seven and eight and Andre greipel winner of eight stages in his eight tours and failing to finish one for the first time Now by staying with the leaders as the large group split up Stephen cruzvike built up a big enough lead to make him the race leader on the road and with 73 kilometers to go we set off on his own by the top of the call to La quite Affair he wasn't just the virtual yellow Jersey he had it by over three minutes with a lead over the main field of 605. and the main field was getting smaller and smaller as all the contenders team Sky included burned through their support Riders turned onto the out with a lead of four minutes 19 a cushion of 139 over Thomas in the race for the race lead Thomas and Froome have three teammates left as they approach the final 13.8 kilometers looks pretty measured doesn't it David he's not going too deep and he looks in control at this point but it's a long long way to the top yeah I mean the the effort he's riding is an effort to take him to the Finish Line unlike uh the the domestics behind who are just trying to get as close as they can to him before pulling off and doing their pilafs but it's going to look could be two very different races in that respect behind we're going to see some explosive racing from from this yellow Jersey group whereas for for for christwick is very much going to be as he said have measured uh time trial like affair the big lead out to the climb being orchestrated by Jonathan castroviejo how much more has he got to give than mihail Pier Kowski then what a job he has the young Colombian to hold on to the yellow Jersey of Garen Thomas to protect Chris Froome and Thomas potentially from all the attacks that surely are about to come from the likes of Roman bad day and from Naro Quintana and all the other favorites with a couple of Exceptions there lined out on the wheel of Team Sky they now hit the climb Stephen Christopher well that's it for Castro Viejo as you predicted David Miller his job is done yeah he had in his head that that was it he just had to take care of task he's not got much longer either you can see that face we know it well now and I I doubt he'll last very much long which is going to be such a big job for Burnout look at the domestics just falling away straight away that's his uh Rafa Michael is in the Breakaway Mick on the Avi isn't going to be winning today Lawrence tendam from Sun web is gone so too is Andrei Amador from movistar She's Gone deep again here yeah you can see us but that's this is good for Crow's hooks it means that the speed is a little bit Limited at the moment because no doubt team Sky will want to keep from keep him for as long as possible so they'll be telling him just stay at your Rhythm and that means that we can see it's 355 but without still a significant Gap we're on the Dutch Mountain don't forget the team lotto and our yumbo fans as well as all those Spectators carrying the national colors here will be will they'll have been following this race all afternoon they will know that Stephen Christ fight has attacked the race they will know of the advantage he took over the quad Affair they'll know but he will hit the foot of the mountain on his own and they will be willing him to Victory on the Dutch Mountain if you couldn't write the script better than the one that is unfolding on them on the mountain today but you can burn our youngest rider in the race first hood of France and here is leading the yellow Jersey about to wear so I mean it's phenomenal and he's looking very composed isn't he been out very very focused totally in control of his effort at the moment thinking about the time gaps holding steady at the moment so Bernard matching Christ bike but no more than that not eating into Christ fight's Advantage at this point he can't go too deep he doesn't want to put anyone into difficulty on his wheel but more than that he doesn't want to put himself into difficulty so that he's of no great service ultimately yeah exactly he's got to to measure this uh effort to make it last as long as possible we can see that because the group's like spread across the road although there are Riders being spat out yep but the the leaders are all there is still hanging on just the answer is just down to Mika Orlando and neither can taniff and the movie star in that group that I think they're all going to wait until you can Bernard's used up and but they've got to be careful because they might find themselves in the same situation as yesterday the moment the teams go run out of domestics one of the leaders attacks uh obviously this time you would expect it to be Chris froons then allow uh going Thomas to Mark the moves from behind and sit on the wheels but at the moment he's looking good again but he's bringing back that time as well significantly oh he's setting a phenomenal Pace now and it's uh the damage being done at the back of that uh of that Elite group of riders is a symptom of the fact that Bernal is absolutely eating into Christ bike's Advantage 257 in the blink of an eye and coming down all the time oh that's an extraordinary ride by Bernal yeah he's looking extreme guarding control so I think he's he's basically being controlled by garrington uh Chris Froome behind him or just so letting him know what pace to hold Karen Thomas at this point and and just so quickly is back in the virtual yellow Jersey standings at Bernard continuing to set a pace that can only be explained I think by a combination of His Brilliant ride and also Stephen christbright's legs may just be beginning to fall off [Music] foreign [Music] looks like he has pulled the handbrake and can hold this uh Pace no longer nor can Alejandro Valverde at the back of the group but Stephen christwike is losing time hand over fist as this group of favorites being headed by aegon Bernal and start to eat into his Advantage take chunks out of it all just thrashing the bike around and uh well they've adjusted the times but I thought it was coming down too fast so steady as you go unfortunately when he's out of sight it's the only information we have on our screens but that has restored the natural order of things so benar is still doing a great ride but it's nibbling away uh to the advantage of Stephen Christ fight rather than taking those big chunks Dan Martin just losing the wheel there that's not a good sign I mean yep he's uh he's we've seen this happen before Stan Martin comes back on but at this point there's still a long way to go for him to be in difficulty another bottle from another helper by the side of the road it's a smaller Sip and then discards the extra weight every gram matters here every pedal stroke matters every 100 meters that he ticks off matters and that's another one got 9.7 K to go 319 is Martin Dan Martin on the first the first weaker day for Martin so far on the Tour de France he's looked in wonderful form but at the moment he's just just a little bit removed from that group of favorites and perhaps uh feeling a little bit the effort that he put into yesterday's stage in that attack oh the athletes put into every stage he seems to have been there attacking always and uh this this looks like this could be his bad day of the tour somebody's going to anybody's attacking on the left-hand side of the road there he goes a long way out about 11 K's probably from the Finish Line Vincenzo niboli goes now nibbly is in fourth place in the general classification 214 down on the yellow Jersey so he's around about what 50 seconds down on Chris froome's time he's got the Gap and that's the hardest thing to do at his points in the race but now we're going to really see what you got burnout can do what this super Colombian whether he can control this and bring it back and he is just it's got a level pegged at the moment and I guess via's going to bring it back he'll bring it back slowly because he won't want to put Chris through Morgan Thomas in the red during the process but he does look uh amazingly in control still Jacob I'm still there so two is Primo's roglitch home about day Michael Landa Nara Quintana Tom dumula and then the sky Duo of Thomas and Froome and again Ben are the only domestic left in the race with Vincenzo nibly just uh holding a tiny advantage over the Colombian yeah it's uh it seems to be just matching each other pedal straight for pedal stroke at the moment nearby the other did look there that Bernal was just about to close it a bit more even making the decision that that now but you've got to be careful can't bring it back too quickly and blow himself up and then be counter-attacked remember the most important thing for you can burn on now is to go is to go longer if that means just leaving me really out there for for a while and then deterring deterring attacks by keeping the pace so high and this new body now has pulled off to the left and it's just going to slot itself back in [Applause] 256 now between crossbike and this group so he is beginning to lose time again needs to be a little bit cautious with those time gaps but that would make sense 8.8 K to go 255 Christopher's Advantage he is seeing the chance of a yellow Jersey I think probably eluding not a Quintana ghost and it's another long range attack just like Vincenzo Nibley but I think we expect more from Quintana than we did from Virginia nibbly he just like nibbly has got four or five bite lengths but no more and Bernard has to respond to his senior compatriot now a Colombian against the Colombian with a Colombian fan in between them on the road wow this is incredible for me again but now he seems to have that completely under control as well there's no Panic he's riding like a racer much more experienced than his younger years 243 the advantage for Christ bike in the meantime Quintana against team sky and against the rest of the race as he look s it's not an explosive acceleration but if he starts to weaken Bernal and that that chase stalls no evidence of that whatsoever he might just be able to ride away San agonizing gap for benell to close and it still is just about there for quintana's attack in a way these attacks are quite good for Burnout because you can just then sit it and Peg it to their pace and uh otherwise you sit there the whole time doubting whether you're going the right speed or who's going to attack next now that they're sitting there he knows what they can do and the best thing to him is just to leave Mata kintana there because let him sit there as long as he can and just use them as a as bait if you like information now suggesting that Thomas is the virtual yellow Jersey as the time Gap continues to drop for Stephen christwake Bernard has brought back Vincenzo Nibley another Quintana that's phenomenal there you go dutch approaching the The Madness of the Dutch area through a pocket of check support as a woman body accelerates on the left-hand side of the road reacting to a move this time not by Nara Quintana but by Mika Lander so this is the third big attack that aegon Bernal is expected to respond to can he do it a third time and this is a double attack as well from a very fresh looking home on bad day and Mika Lander and again Bernal just sits there just holds them there this is a big move it's good to see the most are actually using their numbers but now let's see what everybody can do because it's uh as he jumps off yes it counter-attacked me calendar well all in now for going on by date you shouldn't look back he doesn't need Michael and the land is not able to hold the pace of the young Frenchman but they started the day eighth place in the general classification 258 down on Garand Thomas and instantly uh look at the time gap between the yellow Jersey group and uh trying to respond to balde's attack and Christ bike and it's coming down now 144 if that's to be believed and by date has he's the first Rider really to get away from that group yes he is I mean that's been the first he was perfect timing and the fact he used landed to almost get him out of there on the wheel just and then counter-attacked him but Mika landed not looking so good I think he was more doing that out of Duty than anything else to counter attack after made of container and his uh Roman by day that's benefited off that still it's been out on the front still he looks uh in control composed but that uh attack that particular attack from Bad Day proved too much for him just to neutralize in the first instance but still he's doing a very good job just uh holding on to the the time Gap Chris Froome looking still very in control then he only wanted his Jersey's still completely done up look at that everyone else is all ripped open trying to get air in and he still remains that Jersey done a right up to the neck 6.6 K to go Christ fight has won 33 to defend against this group but he has a rampaging Roman by day somewhere off the front of the yellow Jersey group and flying up the mountain to contemporate [Music] kintana I'm hearing has been dropped in fact there he is Knight of Quintana has dropped away from that group of favorites an attack from Quintana that came to nothing and this time the Colombian is in distress and he is definitely out of contention for today and seeing the race go away from him so aegon Bernal has effectively dropped NATO Quintana yeah there's only five Riders left in the race if you like outside the team skyriser and of course this the sixth praisewick up the road so uh Egan Bernal is doing a a phenomenal job he is the flag of Belgium being waved in the face of a Dutchman now Stephen Christ fights got her around about two minutes to the yellow Jersey group and a little bit less to a woman birthday who's out of the saddle Roman bad days yeah it's just holding there now he's not not extending it but that's no mean feat because we can see the damage that's been done to that group behind and uh it really is ego and burn now just because all he still is there is no threat on GC he's quite of way down so this is a working out well we've got a couple of fans there including a supporter of the French team just getting in the way of Christ bike he's through the Throne of the real throng of Dutch fans now that's where woman bar day is and that's where team Sky R and aegon bear now right through the village of Louis now and the real thick and the midst of the fans I have to say there is a lot of security and a lot of police on this mountain today and it looks like they have the situation at least for now mostly under controllers Flags just a Portuguese flag this time just waved in the face of the Frenchman who's getting away from this group bit by bit but he's eating his advantage in painful pedal Strokes that's perhaps the biggest surprise on the mountain today the biggest casualty the biggest name casualty kintana losing contact with a group of favorites and he'll be losing time more time than he can afford in the general classification stretching his advantages he a little bit maybe nothing out on his pedals again and settle and trying to push on yeah I mean I think everybody's just out there at their Threshold at the moment they've but I think Ben I can go much faster but acan so it's they are at the absolute limit now and it's just holding and if he is going to go out which does seems a little bit it's just going to be a meter at a time if you like it's there's no big there's only big chunks taken out now so the mystery remains where is aegon bernal's Finish Line here how deep into this time can he go what a wonderful job he's done and what an improvement job he's done as well before almost inevitably it will happen Thomas and Froome are exposed to the rest of the the group of favorites but they haven't got Quintana to deal with any longer they've got a Vincenzo niblis tried it once and uh it came to nothing broglitch could be a threat Lander has looked slightly uh powerless to do anything off the team Sky Pace but dumelan is still hanging there or thereabouts often as Prozac now you can you can feel it with him it's uh being such a massive attack and you'll know they're coming up from behind and this doesn't get any easier for him [Music] but are they looking in control I mean it's looking like he's got into that time trial sort of mode if you like just switched on focused breathing hard it's got that kind of look in his eye as well so I think he's got an effort that he can there's not he's not going to crack body and look it seems to be extending just a little bit that lead but he's only 270 meters on the road I say only but that's a long way when you've got gradients like you have on Outdoors behind Stephen kreis bike whose Advantage is shrinking now probably to under a minute to um seven Riders left in this group and three of them are team sky and Bernardi winding it up a little bit is Chris boom going to be content to hold uh Thomas's wheel and ride with Thomas all the way to the Finish or is Chris prune going to make a point here on outdoes he is very very close to the front of the race now Barbay is in between uh Chris fake and the yellow Jersey group but it's all coming together somewhat and uh they now have five kilometers to go still think that might be slightly more than a minutes Gap I don't totally trust those uh those time gaps that we're seeing on the screen are still looking quite fresh but they is now out of sight [Applause] and again burnout is still on the front there's a better setting up something here because he's going digging deeper so whether it's just winding up getting ready for attack of one of his team leaders because he hasn't got that Sim done now just a suggestion there that he's done I think but that's it for Ben Hill so now he's what he's going to want to unfold Now is it going to say like he was accelerating yeah and he cuts you open just a little bit of a gap on Chris Froome but now we have the yellow Jersey on the front then Chris Froome then Vincenzo Nubian roglitch so no thermostats left unless you count the yellow Jersey of Garen Thomas as a domestic in this situation this is an interesting ride by going Thomas because he looks like he's going pretty deep there he doesn't necessarily have to but it's almost almost it's like he's waiting for Chris through now it does reminiscent of the 2011 of Walter Espana where Chris room himself was in the red Leader's Jersey of the World Tour spania riding for Brad Wiggins now we see another grand tour leader in the yellow Jersey uh Geron Thomas really leading out Chris room on this mountain and leading him across to Ronaldo and about to Snuff out by a day's attack well this is amazing if that's the case if we're seeing Gary and Thomas riding for Chris Froome here that's uh that's phenomenal discipline and and you know just confidence in Chris room they now he risks a glance over and he'll see the the leader of the Tour de France and Chris Froome on his wheel and that is an intimidating sight and in the meantime Stephen Christ bike is still holding on to a 44 second Advantage but he's still got 4.2 kilometers to go [Music] all over the mountain the time gaps are shrinking and with merciless Precision it is honing in on the finish line and the feeling grows that it might be heartbreak for Stephen Christ like yeah but any minute now there might be an attack from Chris room off the yellow Jersey that's a little Glimpse that we caught just now what's happening further back down the road there's bad day still in second place on the road a lot of motorbikes in between him and a yellow Jersey group that is now headed by Chris Flume on the offensive with doomaland trying to get all the way stuck in the motorbikes there's a Jean's armor in the way he has a slow damage attack casualty but they trying to get on Chris froome's wheel the yellow Jersey of Garen Thomas is still there uh parties in the company once again as he was yesterday of Tom dumula uh no sign of Primo's Rob glitch there or of mikalanda they have been dropped well that was chaos I don't know what happened there was the the pinch in the road where our Chris room go by they can't hold the wheel so here we go so now we're seeing Chris through at his best and this is what we're so familiar at seeing well the feeling was that Chris Brown would want to make a statement on a mountain that has so far proved unhappy hunting ground for Chris room this is the uh the first sign really that that statement is about to be pronounced there is a glimpse of Chris room and he actually takes a moment to have a little drink as he locks on he can see Stephen Christ like he is within touching distance of the the front of the race now this is a phenomenal ride look he's not necessarily losing much time he's got it under control it up here because he knows how to do this he does it over and over again not being a pure climber he has to time his effort to Perfection Crozer could see this he'll know that what's happening and it's all over for him but it's been a great ride and uh he'll know now and yet that just slumping his in his body language for the first time suggests it defeated imminent in Christ fight having done the ride of his life it was brilliant it's been a long time since we've seen that on the Tour de France a long range attack from a real player like crazy can he dig in and just hold on to these gains he might be making in the general classification but weirdly he will have to accept but that's uh the big big win on up to West that you might have dreamed of and it came so close to is over but Doom Milan is digging in and he's bringing the fascinatingly the yellow Jersey back into contention on this climb it might be an opportunity for going Thomas to counter-attack but it's uh Chris Freeman's not really distancing out because bardy seems have recovered his back on the yellow Jersey so it's actually Chris froon who's not accelerating dun Mulan this is an amazing ride and this is the big concern for team Sky dumulan he is the world time trial Champion if they can't lose him here this is going to be a big concern because in the big mountains ages to come he's the man that they need to lose before their final time trial I do Milan now tries to attack Thomas he's trying to lose Thomas and get rid of him but all the while Thomas just glues to that wheel and doom Milan is getting across the Chris room step by step pedal Stroke by pedal stroke the yellow Jersey is coming back into play and the race will reboot a Stephen Christ fight loses contact with that group he's in fifth place on the road now and he might lose further places to mikhailanda and to his teammate primozroglitch those two Riders will surely get together but dumela has brought garon Thomas back to Chris Broome and Roman bad day and we've got four of the very best on the Tour de France as one with three kilometers of this time still to go Nibley who came uh came to blows with we think a motorbike and hit the deck while he's uh race effectively ended there and he's just soloing up the mountain in around about seventh or eighth position on the mountain yeah I will find out later but it looks like when Chris froome's attack happened it was where the pinch in the road where the barriers suddenly came to the fore and I think the motorbikes and everything all jobs ingested and that's what caused it if they carry on like this some other Riders from further down the mountain might just come back into contention as well I don't think Landers too far behind this group there he is mikalanda digging in Primos roglitch I think is somewhere uh in between well Lander and uh and this group I think Primrose which is not too far behind either well that's probably the writer here with most again on GC obviously it's Roman body so let's shaking his head it's uh I wonder if the races are neutralizing slightly because they realize they've got nothing to gain right now they'd rather try and race the stage when and I doubt they're Racing for new buddy uh but that seems a bit too friendly at this point in the race because I'm not even sure what they know if they know what happened but it's uh there's certainly this is like a track race or just ride five abreast Then There goes through from reacting to another attack by Holden bardet who gets away again and through now leads dumela on his wheel and Thomas so from doing the work on the front to try and shut down and run on by day interestingly so reversal of the roles that we saw from Thomas and Froome and Thomas is equal now as he was before too dumelaz racing and doomaliers holding onto the wheel of Chris Froome and Landa put into difficulties he's only just made contact with that group of four and he finds himself off the back again but bad day has the front of the race Vincenzo neighborly slowly chipping his way back but it's a it's going to be nice and possible to get back to the front after that not in a not in this points in the race Christopher finally cracking to Mulan slightly but it's uh look they're so evenly matched these four Riders once again is just uh pegging back that attack by Chris Froome and getting back onto his wheel and actually he's shut that down pretty quickly so Doom understand another huge turn there and Thomas Thomas has benefited from him and so is team sky with both their players still in contention Here and Now Froome shuts down by day and doomland goes now he's going to be able to go with the Dutchman maybe a Dutchman will win after all and afterwards just not the one we thought dumala a big acceleration 2.2 K to go Thomas reacts food battling to stay in contention now and barday as well put into difficulties by this big attack by dumala there's the Gap and can Foon do anything about that or is Thomas once again gonna reinforce his yellow Jersey and make further gains on the emotional team leader of Team Sky Chris Froome an astonishing race off afterwards here is developing 2K to go most of the Steep criminals down this is nibilian ruglips they're further up the road so they uh at the front of the race are going to find about 100 meters of little descent and they'll go into a tunnel fairly soon as those four come back together again but dumela and Thomas at this point where it's hard to say who looks the strongest they are all just punching each other as hard as they can on this crime and no one has yet delivered a knockout blow yeah MSC they're gonna have to be careful because they'll all know there's a turn of speed they're going Thomas has he showed it yesterday he's joking so will he do that but Chris froo does look like he's citing difficulty but he had reacted to Roman by base so perhaps that counter-attack from dumulan who wrote a very smart race there he chose a perfect moment so that might be disguising a little bit just how bad Chris room is there's NADA Quintana just digging in and uh he's got Stephen Christ fight to work with as a character to try and get across to then further up the road his teammate Christopher's teammate Rock glitch just sitting on the wheel off Vincenzo and Italy but our Daddy's just zipping up getting ready to finesse a Sprint because it is going to come down to a Sprint just 1.5 kilometers to go dumela on the front Thomas glances over his shoulder sees the bad day and fuma both there don't Mulan is looking very strong at the moment I mean Darius say he's almost looking the strongest and we know he's such a controlled Rider in these situations and the fact he is the person who seems to be the strongest means means something because normally he's on the back foot at this point but a team Sky Hearing in their earpieces at this point David no team orders they're all there yeah he's fair I mean for himself at this point surely yeah it's going to be very hard to ride this tactically as a in this prince it's a very hard Sprint let's not forget it's an uphill Sprint so it's going to be on legs and with the four of them you can obviously the imagine the fourth I'm going side by side going for this helped her to staged many many dramatic finishes down it's a long long history ever since faster copy first won here in 1952 but I would hesitate to suggest that it has ever seen a battle like this with four of the favorites five of the favorites because mikalanda has got back on for the overall victory of the Tour de France as one with one kilometer to go one kilometer and a Tailwind so this is something they're going to be evenly matched and none of them are really going to know how to ride this it's going to be on strength there's going to be very little tactics Doom Milan would probably be my favorite but then again Gary and Thomas is so fast Andrew the four of them are going to be just they they don't know who to follow I don't think Katana threatening uh Stephen Christopher's top 10 position on the stage desperately wants to hold on to that look at the captain Mouse and Vincent Rockets goes early and Thomas reacts to that move and so to the storm enough room as well in contention and about day two so that that attack hasn't broken the elastic for Lander he is the first to show his hand and Thomas the sharpest in terms of reacting yeah here we go now do my land's in a pretty good spot but let's tough guys this is a normal Sprint it's uphill Chris through looking good I wonder if guarante is going to try and Lead Out Chris from he's in Prime position to do that but it's a bad day sitting in a good spot let's see what do Milan can do when I was happy with his position he's not moved up he feels that's the right place to be now it is going Thomas going to lead out Chris through that seems like it could be what's going to happen well Thomas finds himself on the front now and Lander alongside him and Thomas opens up his Sprint and Thomas is distancing in Chris room that's not a lead out that is a Sprint for victory in the yellow Jersey could it be back-to-back wins for Garrett Thomas in a big gear only do my life he's getting onto terms with him but the Gap is too big and Thomas is going to win it up to race in the yellow Jersey in style and the question marks with Team sky and this extraordinary Tour de France go on and on and on Lander crosses and now Primo's worldly shaking his head he didn't come to anything in the end for that team except for the respect of the whole race rockitch finishes well neighborly coming to the line Yakov full sang and listen to the Ovation if we get a shot of Stephen Christ fight when he gets to the top but that was I think by far the most interesting race we have ever seen on the top of this mountain Nano Quintana disappointing once again and picking up the minor places and sustaining further losses and this time on Outdoors on our absolute showpiece finale and look at Stephen Christ bike let's see Stephen Christ fight coming to the line and he has held on he was dreaming of Glory but that was one of the great long-range attacks in recent Tour de France history and Christ fight is still a contender on that kind of form as is it goes without saying Garrett Thomas in this sort of form for the channeling Churchill or obliging the photographers as you warmed down signaling his two-stage wins in as many days the second more impressive than the first here's the result he had two clear seconds on the line over dumulan plus his ten for the win demolan picked up six and a command bar day four ahead of Chris Broome who was four seconds down in fourth losing 14 seconds in total to his teammate Mikhail Lander was left out of the league group of five Primos roglich sixth Vincenzo neighborly recovered from his crash to finish seventh Jacob Falls sang a narrow container lost more than 40 seconds Stephen Curry's vague after being out front for so long finished 53 seconds behind Thomas honestly I I'm speechless oh yeah well speeches I don't know what to say I was just no not a chance in hell I thought I was going to win today like I was yeah yeah I was just followed through Milan bad day and through me were attacking obviously a bit of bad luck for neighborly um I rode over his back well and then he came down myself but uh I don't know what to say you just entered history a bit more yeah that's just unbelievable I can uh can we just go Paris now I was just uh yeah I was I did so yesterday like like anything this race is is made for me now you know and today that's it I can uh be happy for sure now and confident to maybe keep that Jersey for a long long long time well maybe the next few days but uh look this race is so hard and you never know how the body reacts and uh like I said yesterday I'm still riding for through me through me still a man he's uh like I said he knows how to ride for three weeks he's a you know Legend gets used way too much but you know he's probably the best ever you know he yeah so I'm just gonna enjoy this he's still in front yeah yeah it's great I just can't believe it guys man yeah it's just speechless Tom for the second day in a row you've had Geron Thomas on your wheel how frustrating was that not to be able to use your strength to bring you the stage win and uh and greatest success in the GT yeah I wanted to win uh I think Thomas was slightly stronger than I was um but uh I definitely had a chance but I I made a mistake with uh when Lana attacked a a a a mischief and I lost a few meters and I was fifth going into the last corner and that's too far so you you don't win anymore if if Thomas is that strong so I would have needed to be on his will in order to have a chance and now I didn't have a chance so I'm disappointed the time limit was extended today for the second stage running although Peter Sagan finished comfortably inside it while most of his Sprint Rivals didn't survive the day to make it an issue so here are the standings after stage 12 Garrett Thomas now leads Chris room by a minute 39 Froome leads Tom de Mulan by 11 seconds Nibley and roglich remained fourth and fifth Our member day is up to sixth the net results of all Stephen Cruz bike's hard work was to lose two places he's eighth behind mikhailanda Nara Quintana is now over four minutes down Dan Martin over five Chris Broome we presume had something to offer at the doping wagon but he had nothing for the waiting reporters outside he was loudly booed up the final climb today where one spectator tried and fortunately failed to make his point physically Vincenzo neighborly did go down on the final climb apparently having been caught between a spectator and a motorbike his initial scan at the Finish suggested a fractured vertebra and he headed off to hospital for confirmation that would put him out of the race Geron Thomas Remains the one big name in the tour to have had no major bad luck so far but as he showed yesterday an underlying today luck isn't wise leading the race go right congratulations no British Rider has ever won an outdress no yellow Jersey has ever on a road stage here this is where history has made you've made it today G yeah I just go I can't believe it I just did not think that was going to happen even on the climb um threw me felt good he was plummeting to have a go and for me just to try to follow and uh just follow doomaland and um I honestly can't believe it I was so even like I knew around that first Corner last Corner sorry we had to be first into the I knew from he was on my wheel so I thought just go around and Sprint out of it and then if anyone's going to come around me it'd be him um and then even with 50 meters to go I was like no way is this actually happening and um I just can't believe it it's just a Unreal

Channel: t wright

Views: 14,665

Keywords: tour de france, tour de france 2018, tour de france 2018 stage 12, alpe d'huez

Id: DhoqDmXblnU

Length: 35min 49sec (2149 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 28 2023